Our
People

Hakeem Ogunniran, a Lawyer, Chartered Governance Practitioner and Arbitrator, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eximia Realty Co Ltd. Mr Ogunniran possesses extensive knowledge and experience in property development, investment, fund raising and housing finance.  He is a recognised expert on housing development and infrastructure related issues in Africa.

He is also the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Lagos Building Investment Co Plc. He was at various times a Law Lecturer (University of Lagos) Company Secretary Legal Adviser and Chief Executive Officer of two major organisations including UACN Property Development Company Plc. He was named one of the Top 20 CEOs on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2013

Diana is a Professor of Global Urbanism, Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. She undertook the role of CEO of the African Cities Research Consortium in 2020, a six-year program funded by FCDO aimed at addressing complex challenges in Africa’s evolving cities and fostering productivity, equity, and inclusivity. Her research revolves around urban poverty and inequality, with a focus on urban poverty reduction initiatives, collective action by marginalised groups, and critical topics like urban basic services, tenure, and housing. Formerly, she led the Global Development Institute as Managing Director.

A former Chair of Homeless International, she has extensive experience academically and strategically, as well as in governance roles, within the urban housing and development sector in the Global South. She is editor of Environment and Urbanization,  a widely read academic journal that address key issues related to urban development in the global South.

Now retired, Steve worked for nearly four decades in international banking across Asia-Pacific, South America, Europe and the Middle East, a career that culminated in his role as Chief Executive Officer of Barwa Bank, an award-winning Islamic financial institution based in Qatar.

Victoria has been a Partner in Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP for the past 20 years specialising in  social housing, charity and third sector governance for housing associations, local authorities, and other social housing providers. Her expertise encompasses governance, contractual, constitutional, and regulatory matters, and she possesses substantial experience in advising on strategic initiatives, structural changes, and diversification within the social housing sector, including charity law.

Victoria’s notable projects span group structures, mergers, diversification endeavours, urban regeneration projects, major property developments, joint ventures, and collaborative working arrangements. In recognition of her experience and expertise, Victoria is ranked as a Leading Individual in social housing law by both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories.

Ranil is a Senior Finance Executive and a Certified Practicing Accountant with over 23 years’ experience working across Australia, Africa, Europe, and North America in the Commercial, Professional Services and NGO sectors.

Ranil is currently the Chief Financial & Operating Officer at CARE USA and is accountable for a $900 million portfolio expanding over 45+ countries.

Prior to joining CARE in 2021, Ranil had an extensive career at Save the Children International, most recently as the Interim Chief Financial Officer for Save the Children Norway. During that period at Save, he was accountable for a multi-billion $USD operational and reporting portfolio within a complex, globally federated entity comprising 30+ member organisations and 60+ country operations. He also spent 3 years in Africa, in a field-based role in Nairobi, Kenya as the Regional Finance and Support Services Director for East and Southern Africa, where he was accountable for 15+ different country offices.

Ranil spent most of his early and mid-career in Senior Finance roles in Chartered Accounting Practices and Investment Banking in Melbourne, Australia.

Ranil is very passionate about eliminating poverty, advocating for human rights, humanitarian work and generally improving the NGO sector to be agile and add value to communities through strong governance and leadership. He is also a Non-Executive Director and Board Trustee and have experienced many roles in UK, USA and Australian Boards. On a personal level, Ranil is a sporting enthusiast and enjoys playing golf and riding. His passion for exploring the world has led him to immerse himself in over 80 countries and their diverse cultures.

Currently the Chief Financial Officer of Optivo, Sarah started her career as an external auditor with BDO Stoy Hayward, before specialising in social housing.

Sarah is the Vice Chair of the NHF’s SORP Working Party and sits on the ICAEW social housing sub-committee. She retired from the Board of Lewisham Homes in October 2019 having served for 10 years, where she also chaired the Audit & Risk Committee. Sarah now sits on the Board of Dolphin Square Foundation.

Dhaval is the founder or Ashray Impact and Director of Affordable Housing at Anant National University. His areas of interest are housing policy, financial inclusion, and urban sustainability. He has set up the Department of Affordable Housing at AnantU and the urbanization vertical for the Center for Emerging Market Solutions at the Indian School of Business. He is a Visiting Fellow at Artha Global a visiting faculty at the Centre for Environment Planning and Technology. Previously he co-founded First Home Realty Solutions, an affordable housing company that was a pioneer in the affordable housing space in India. FHRS worked on solutions in various capacities across Southeast Asia and Africa. He also co-founded We-Build, a platform for self build homes.

He is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter and Habitat for Humanity International, and a strategic advisor to Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy & Infrastructure Technology Limited, a Government of India undertaking.

Freddy has 15+ years of experience in investment and consulting in the banking and finance sector in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, BRIC countries and in Central and Eastern Europe. His core competencies cover design and implementation of strategies and investment concepts, project management, business development as well as fundraising.

He has a global network of contacts with lenders, investors, public entities, and donors. Other capabilities are a proven ability to mediate between public and private sector and excellent intercultural competence.

Irfan is an accomplished entrepreneur, business advisor, and Non-executive Director with 27 years of experience as a CEO in Eastern Africa. He is the founder of two award-winning impact enterprises in the affordable housing and agricultural processing sectors, which have impacted thousands of low-income families across Eastern Africa, for which he was awarded the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship.

He is currently a Partner at Clarity Consultants, which provides business advisory services and executive leadership coaching to high-growth companies and accelerators across Africa, specializing in affordable housing, fintech, climate tech, ag-tech, SaaS, carbon credit generation and trading, renewable energy, inclusive agricultural value chains, ed-tech, and more.

In addition to his role at Clarity, Irfan serves as a Non-Executive Director at Diamond Trust Bank, one of East Africa’s largest publicly-listed regional banking groups, with over USD 3 billion in assets and operations across four countries.

An Acumen Fund Fellow, Irfan is deeply passionate about innovative urban development and the interaction between humanity and the built environment. He believes in the power of intelligent design to enhance health and education outcomes, while bridging socio-economic and ethnic divides, fostering greater social cohesion and human flourishing.

Debra Erb provides advisory services to enterprises working to increase access to safe, affordable housing in sustainable communities around the world. She is also the Director of AHI’s Chrysalis Housing Impact Accelerator. Debra was the Managing Director of Community Infrastructure for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation for 21 years. During that time, Debra and her team committed nearly $3 billion in debt transactions across 31 countries, including construction project finance, mortgage facilities, mortgage insurance, and capital markets transactions.

She has recently joined the Shelter Afrique Advisory Council and Reall’s board of Green City Homes International (GCHI). She is also a member of a team of experts working with George Washington University to strengthen ESG capacity in housing enterprises.

E. Shepard Farrar is a highly experienced institutional investment leader and Board expert, with over 40 years of experience across diverse industries and global markets. She specialises in managing multi-asset portfolios ranging from £15 million to £15 billion, developing financial and risk policies, and building high-performing multinational teams. As a Qualified Financial Expert, Shepard is renowned for her expertise in governance, investment management, sustainability, and regulatory compliance.

She has held senior leadership positions at leading organisations, including Head of Retirement Plans Investments at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Director of U.S. Equities at the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, and Senior Investment Advisor at UMWA Health & Retirement Funds. Over the course of her career, Shepard has advised numerous corporate, non-profit, and multiemployer boards, and has worked with the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) to develop governance curriculum. Her international experience includes economic development consulting in West Africa and volunteering in several countries across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Recognised as one of the Most Influential Women in Investment Management by Institutional Investor, Shepard has also been featured in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America. She holds a BA from Princeton University, an MBA in Global Economic Development, and holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and Project Management Professional (PMP) designations.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Shepard is committed to community service, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, and coaching through ReacHIRE. An avid athlete, she holds a Kempo Black Belt, is a Category 2 cyclist, and has represented Team USA in duathlons.

Ian has been working at the interface between private sector effectiveness and public good for over 25 years.

Ian spent 16 years at the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) where he progressed to Head of Private Sector Development managing a multi-billion $ impact investment portfolio. Ian was Chief Strategy Officer for Crown Agents before joining Reall as CEO in 2018. Ian was named in a list of Top 20 Dynamic CEOs of 2020 by The CEO Publication, was named Cause4s Social Entrepreneur of the Month, August 2021 and a Meaningful Business 100 winner in 2022.

Ian has lived and worked in numerous countries across Africa and Asia. He now resides in London with his wife and two teenage children.

Mewahib is an international development practitioner with over 20 years experience overseas and in the UK spanning various sectors across humanitarian, early recovery, post-conflict reconstruction and development. She brings skills in programme development, business development, institutional funding and resource mobilisation having worked in various funding roles including most recently as Head of Institutional Funding for Oxfam GB and prior to that, leading programmes and business development teams for the British Council in Sudan, Sub-Saharan Africa and for the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund.

As Director of Programme and Business Development, Mewahib is playing a strategic leadership role to support Reall’s growth in the full range of revenue streams through boosting collaboration and innovation in our approach. This includes brokering and maintaining strategic relationships with existing and prospective funders to support delivering Reall’s mission of a green affordable homes revolution.

Patrick is a CIMA qualified accountant with extensive experience in financial management, investment and international development, with a particular focus on impact investing in emerging markets.

A multi-linguist investment professional, he started his career in finance at British Telecom in 1998. Over the following decade, he worked for a real estate consultancy firm, in investment banking at JPMorgan and RBS. He also helped setup a micro finance bank in DR Congo in 2009.

Dawn is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience in financial leadership roles across the commercial, public, and charitable sectors. Most recently, she was Director of Finance & Resources at StreetGames, one of the UK’s leading Sport for Development charities, where she spent 10 years driving the organisation’s financial strategy.

At Reall, Dawn is responsible for overseeing the financial and operational frameworks that support the charity and its subsidiaries. Her role includes leading on strategic financial management, treasury and investment operations, and ensuring robust governance processes are in place.

Emma is a results-oriented leader with over 18 years of international experience in sustainable urban development. She has spearheaded the delivery of EDGE-certified affordable housing, WASH, and solar projects across Asia and Africa, securing investments from governments, DFIs, and private sector partners. With expertise in PPPs, impact investing, and private sector development, Emma excels in forging strategic partnerships, leading high-performing teams, and integrating social inclusion and gender equity into projects, all while navigating complex investment landscapes.